Pfizer, Other Drug Manufacturers Sued by State of Michigan

Michigan is now part of a joint lawsuit that accuses 20 major pharmaceutical companies of unfair business practices, including artificially inflating prices.

Forty-five states, including Michigan, are now involved in a lawsuit alleging "a broad conspiracy" by drug manufacturers to "artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition and unreasonably restrain trade for more than 100 different generic drugs." Kalamazoo's Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company is one of 20 generic drug manufacturers named, with 15 senior executives singled out. (None from Pfizer.)

The complaint alleges that Teva, Sandoz, Mylan, Pfizer and 16 other generic drug manufacturers engaged in a broad, coordinated and systematic campaign to conspire with each other to fix prices, allocate markets and rig bids for more than 100 different generic drugs. The drugs span all types, including tablets, capsules, suspensions, creams, gels, ointments, and classes, including statins, ace inhibitors, beta blockers, antibiotics, anti-depressants, contraceptives, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and treat a range of diseases and conditions from basic infections to diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, HIV, ADHD, and more. In some instances, the coordinated price increases were more than 1,000 percent.

The alleged schemes increased prices affecting the health insurance market, taxpayer-funded health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and individuals who must pay artificially inflated prices for their prescription drugs.